seattle to yellowstone and back

I'm taking my family on a road trip to Yellowstone this month, but since it's the first time we are driving such a long way, I'm looking for help from the Forum. Our goal is Yellowstone Park only, where we'll have about 4 days - it's the road there and back that is confusing.
I was thinking of taking a Seattle-Spokane-Missoula route on the way there, since it's supposed to be faster, leaving home as early as possible, and covering as much as I can on the first day. If I won't have a second driver to switch, what is a reasonable distance we can cover with stops for food and gas, i.e. where along the way should I look to book a hotel for an overnight stay?
On the way back I was thinking of taking the other route - via Craters of the Moon, Idaho Falls, and then Yakima to Seattle, but the question is the same - where would be a reasonable location to stay for the night?
Any suggestions on Yellowstone must-sees are appreciated, too!

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You don't say how many in the family group or their ages, travelling with toddlers could mean more stops. If you and the family are used to travelling then Butte would be the absolute furthest I would travel on day one, leaving a 4 hour or so drive to Yellowstone. You say you have 4 days at Yellowstone, but do not make it clear how long you have allowed either side for the journey. If you have a couple of days to travel then Missoula would make a comfortable first day, in between the two is Deer Lodge.

If you want to spend a couple of hours or so at Craters of the Moon, and you only have 2 days, then I would be looking at Boise as an overnight stop.

Thank you so much for your response, I guess I did miss some obvious things in my post. We are a family of four, and the youngest is 12 years old, so we should be pretty much OK in terms of enduring a long drive.
As for the time I set aside for travel I was thinking 1.5 to 2 days each way plus a four-day stay at the park. I was hoping to spend only one night at the hotels each way, but wasn't sure where it was best to book them. From your experience, do you think it would be possible to find a room at Butte/Boise without prior reservation at the middle of Aug?

I am not familiar with the lodging situations in these towns [plus we normally travel by RV] so I would do a little research prior to leaving. To the top right of this page you will find the RTA reservations link where you can search for lodgings and get an idea of costs and availablity. If availability seems scarce, I would consider booking in advance as there is nothing worse tha trying to find a room after a long day on the road ! [imo]

Have a great trip !

Thank you! I found such a wealth of information on this web-site, and I'm not even halfway through reading it yet!

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do you think it would be possible to find a room at Butte/Boise without prior reservation at the middle of Aug?

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I don't think you would have any problem, as long as you are not locked into one particular hotel chain. They are both decent size cities on Interstate highways and there will be a good selection of hotels near the main interchanges.

In Butte, I see 10 hotels listed on hotels.com, and about 40 in Boise.

Well, I did exactly the same, and booked a hotel in Butte while I was at it - just in case. Now it's up to me to drive 600 miles between here and there!
Can you share any tips about visiting Yellowstone itself?

You might find this report helpful and some great tips here from Michaels report.

I hope to knock Yellowstone off of my 'to do' list next year ! ;-)